PETERBOROUGH UNITED 1 (Boyd 24)
BARNSLEY 2 (Bogdanovic 25, Macken 38)

BARNSLEY were made to work but Daniel Bogdanovic and Jon Macken hit the goals to pick up a deserved win at London Road.

Another game, another raft of changes for the Reds as Mark Robins again searched for the winning formula that eluded his side against Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Manchester United, although Barnsley took a lot of heart from Tuesday's fine Carling Cup display against the champions. Back came Carl Dickinson, Ryan Shotton and Nathan Doyle while Julian Gray, Rob Kozluk and Emil Hallfredsson missed out.

Peterborough were missing striker Craig Mackail-Smith from their first choice front line and keeper Joe Lewis while they handed a debut to on-loan Manchester United shot-stopper Ben Amos. There was no place for former Red Tom Williams, who missed the game through injury.

Kick off was proceeded by an immaculately observed one minute's silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday next weekend as the Reds looked to get off to a bright start, buoyed by some tremendous vocal backing from the 1,000 or so Barnsley supporters standing behind Amos' goal.

Amos saved Peterborough on ten minutes when Daniel Bogdanovic did well to find a yard down the right and crossed but the young keeper did wonderfully well to race off his line and scramble the ball away from Anderson. Hugo Colace could not turn the rebound back goalward from 12 yards.

At the other end Shaun Batt managed to get a shot away moments later but Luke Steele was in the right place to make a decent save.

Toumani Diagouraga then went route one for Posh and caused the Reds all sorts of problems as Stephen Foster, Darren Moore and Steele made a complete mess of dealing with the ball and almost let in Batt and Aaron McLean. Thankfully referee Carl Boyeson blew his whistle to save the Reds' blushes.

Shotton's long throw almost put the Reds into the lead on 16 minutes as Amos let the ball slip through his hands under pressure but Bogdanovic could not turn it into an empty net although it was a tough opportunity to turn goalward.

George Boyd then had the Reds rocking on 23 minutes as he fizzed the ball across the face of goal but McLean and Batt could not turn it over the line. Things took a controversial turn as from Boyd's corner Moore and McLean's wrestling caught the attention of referee Boyeson. It was a case of six of one, half a dozen of the other but the referee pointed to the spot. Boyd coolly dispatched the penalty into the bottom corner.

The lead lasted all of 70 seconds as Barnsley broke straight from the kick off and Macken fired over a fantastic cross from the right that cut Amos out of the game. Bogdanovic was in the right place again to head home from six yards.

Peterborough pressed the self destruct button on 38 minutes as a misplaced pass allowed Anderson to canter through the heart of the Posh defence. The Brazilian picked out the right pass to put Macken clean through and the striker did not need a second invitation to lash the ball past Amos and into the far top corner.

The Reds almost caught Peterborough on the counter two minutes into the second half as Macken and Doyle combined to send Adam Hammill away down the left. Hammill cut past his marker and was only a foot or so away from planting his shot into the top corner.

Lee Frecklington then went close down the other end moments later as his curler flew just over the bar. Batt also went close on 54 minutes as he shot wide of the mark from the edge of the box.

Boyd's delivery from set pieces was causing problems for Barnsley and the front man's corner on 56 minutes gave Craig Morgan a free header but Doyle was in the right place to hack off the line. McLean and Batt then almost broke through as Posh piled on the pressure but the Reds defence were hanging on for dear life. Boyd flashed one over on 58 minutes.

Hammill had Amos flapping again on the hour mark as his free kick flew past everybody and brought an uncomfortable save from the young keeper. Foster then could not turn the loose ball into the net under pressure.

Peterborough somewhat lost their way as the second half progressed. Still the chances came for the home side though and Batt saw a deflected show hit the sidenetting on 76 minutes.

Barnsley were battling a referee who lost the plot a little to hand Peterborough the opportunity to get back into the game on 80 minutes when McLean just fell over as he raced with Foster towards a long punt forward. Astoundingly referee Boyeson not only gave the home side a free kick but also booked Foster - ruling the Reds skipper out of the Sheffield United game. There was more than a little justice when Frecklington hammered the free kick over the stand.

The Reds almost killed the game on 81 minutes as the ball broke to substitute Iain Hume but a combination of Morgan and keeper Amos cleared the danger. Still Peterborough pressed and Morgan again went close with a header from Boyd's corner on 85 minutes.

The Reds had the ball in the back of the net deep in stoppage time as Anderson raced onto Hume's pass and cut into the area before playing in Macken but the striker was yards offside as he slotted the chance past Amos.

PETERBOROUGH UNITED: Amos, Morgan, Zakuani (Bennett 63), Lee, Frecklington, McLean, Boyd, Rowe, Diagouraga, Whelpdale (Rose 37), Batt.
Subs: Martin, Keates, McKeown, Pearce, Griffiths.

BARNSLEY: Steele, Shotton, Foster, Moore, Dickinson, Anderson, Colace, Doyle (Butterfield 87), Hammill (J. Gray 68), Bogdanovic (Hume 63), Macken.
Subs: Preece, Hassell, Campbell-Ryce, A. Gray.

Referee
Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire)
Assistant Referees
Martin Dexter (Leicestershire) and Gavin Muge (Bedfordshire)
Fourth Official
Guy Stretton (Leicestershire)

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